Rikishi Heisuke executed a perfect line shot with a spike that was completely undefended, successfully scoring a point before Mokoba could even close the distance.
The moment it landed, Rishia Heisuke raised his hands and cheered, "Yes!!"
Miya Atsumu raised his hand with a great mood, giving Rishia Heisuke a high five. "Nice hit."
Rishia Heisuke was so moved that he felt like he was going to cry in an instant.
This was the highest quality match he had ever played, he actually received praise from Atsumu-senpai here..
He felt as if he still hadn't woken up.
Miya Atsumu went to high-five Hinata again.
Finally, he slightly tilted his head and spoke faintly toward the Fukurodani members on the other side of the net: "So what if the blocking is strong? No matter how strong it is, it's a waste if they can't touch the ball."
Hinata stared at Miya Atsumu's profile, feeling a bit dazed.
Atsumu-senpai is exceptionally cool today.
Whether it was the initial serve or the subsequent clean and efficient movements, everything was simply captivating.
Miya Osamu stood in the waiting area with his arms crossed over his chest, his face full of disdain. "He's like a peacock spreading its feathers."
Unabara Uta nodded, "Indeed, Atsumu-senpai is very motivated today."
Watching the two of them going back and forth, Kumagai, who was completely out of the loop, asked in confusion, "Unabara, what kind of riddle are you and Osamu-senpai playing?"
Unabara Uta patted Kumagai on the back and said earnestly, "You'll understand sooner or later."
By the time Miya Atsumu turned back to look, Hinata had already withdrawn his gaze, replaying that last play in his mind.
He muttered softly, "Actually, Atsumu-senpai could give it to me, I could ensure a super spike without being caught by Washio-senpai's block."
But Heisuke is also very impressive, he's truly almost there, Saru-senpai is watching me too..
Under Miya Atsumu's gaze, Hinata looked up at him with a pitiful expression.
Although he didn't say a word, his eyes were filled with four words.
Toss it to me, toss it to me, toss it to me—
Miya Atsumu raised his hand and made an OK gesture.
Toss, toss as many as you want!
Anyway, Shoyo knew what he was doing; he would never constantly choke like Aran and Atsumu-senpai!
The Inarizaki members, who had been watching for a long time as they rotated one position clockwise, were suddenly startled by Bokuto's loud shout.
Bring it on! I won't lose, no matter what kind of serve it is!!
The entire court fell silent.
Miya Atsumu raised his hand and covered his face. "Help, this is the first time my urge to complain has been this intense.."
He only just realized what Bokuto was saying; his reaction time was a bit too slow.
Akaashi didn't know what to say either; he simply turned his head silently, preparing for the next offensive play.
Rishia Heisuke had already walked to the serving position while holding the ball.
The cheers from Inarizaki were like thunder, doing everything in their power to cheer for Rishia Heisuke.
And at this very moment, standing here, beyond his excitement, Rishia Heisuke felt a profound sense of confidence in himself.
What he was thinking about wasn't how not to choke, but rather.. scoring!
“Heisuke, serve a good one!!”
The whistle blew, Rishia Heisuke unhurriedly bounced the ball against the ground.
After spinning the ball once more in his hands, he stared at Komi Haruki on the opposite side and raised his hand to toss the ball up.
Alright, the feel of the toss is great.
So.. he will definitely deliver a great serve.
Taking a four-step approach, Rishia Heisuke jumped precisely in front of the baseline and raised his hand to spike the ball.
He considered himself far behind Miya Atsumu and the others in terms of serving ability, so he wouldn't be arrogant enough to target the Libero with his spike.
His target was the edge of the court beside Mokoba Akitsugu, ensuring that he was the only one who could receive this ball.
Rishia Heisuke's serve was extremely fast, with his excellent form today, it was even faster than when he played against Ichibayashi yesterday.
Mokoba's pupils contracted at the sound of several heavy hits, but Inarizaki's serve cover was excellent, they were even subtly setting up a play specifically targeting him.
By the time he regained his composure, the ball had already struck the side of his body.
It was already too late to perform a diving save, so in a moment of desperation, Mokoba could only reach out with a single hand, throwing his whole body sideways in an attempt to roll and receive the ball.
But this method of receiving the ball was extremely dangerous in itself and incredibly difficult, it was impossible to control it with just one hand.
The ball flew straight off his arm the next second it made contact, bouncing out of bounds and over the railing.
Fortunately, Komi had already anticipated it and rushed forward; with a powerful push-off and a diving save, he managed to intercept the ball mid-air.
Akaashi moved into position, followed up, used his third touch to set the ball over the net.
"Opportunity Ball!" Akagi shouted.
Mokoba scrambled to his feet to prepare for the follow-up defense, his eyes filled with an unmistakable sense of wariness toward Rishia Heisuke.
This level of power serve.. is actually not much different from Miya Atsumu's, it's just that the spin is still lacking a little bit of refinement.
But Rishia Heisuke's serve was even more precise in its placement than Miya Atsumu's, with the added ball speed, he didn't even have time to react.
Akagi set the ball from the back row toward the net, Suna, in the front row, took a running approach and jumped, looking as if he were about to spike.
A Libero's set from the back row is not allowed to be spiked if the ball is within the three-meter line, but this ball was not, so Suna could handle it however he pleased.
The Fukurodani members didn't dare be careless; they instantly converged toward the center, preparing to block Suna.
But just as he was preparing to spike, Suna suddenly turned and lifted his hand, sending the ball right in front of Hinata.
Hinata jumped to chase the ball at the last moment, spiking it with precision.
The volleyball, spinning sideways, slammed down near Saru in the back row without being touched by the block.
Because Komi was still on the other side from his recent save, Saru was the only one defending this side.
Saru lowered his center of gravity, controlling the ball with the palm of his hand to send it up steadily.
As for side spin, just treat it like a normal spin.
As long as he didn't overthink the quality of the receive, he could guarantee at least a minimum-level reception.
Akaashi frowned, but he still moved quickly to follow and prepare for the toss.
He retreated to get under the ball, jumped, sent a precise toss toward Position 4, once again placing it in a comfortable position for Bokuto to spike.
Aran and Suna quickly followed up with a block.
After being tricked by Rishia Heisuke just now, Bokuto became more cautious when tooling the block; this time, as Rishia Heisuke stepped back to prepare for a heavy spike down the line, he instead opted for a light dump.
Rishia Heisuke was completely stunned, in his desperation, he lunged forward and managed to save the ball.
"Nice play!" Miya Atsumu praised him once again.
Although judging blindly that the opponent was preparing for a power spike was a mistake, the receive was good enough to be praised.
Hinata licked his lips, lowered his body, began a running approach toward the net, while shouting, "Give me the ball!"
Atsumu-senpai did not use him as a decoy this time; instead, he sent the ball to an extremely high contact point.
In their previous matches, they hadn't used high balls for Hinata on a large scale.
After all, it consumes a lot of physical energy, which will also increase the degree of fatigue in Hinata's knees.
But after today's match was over, there would be no more matches.
So at times like this, his only task was to squeeze every last bit of value out of the spikers.
There was no extra cover for this ball; Washio stepped back two steps upon making his read, creating distance from the net to take a running start.
His vertical jump from a standing position would definitely not be able to match Hinata's terrifying jumping ability.
But with a running start, his maximum contact point was higher than Hinata's.
Washio Tatsuo's extensive experience allowed him to reach the peak at the exact same time as Hinata, his arms pressed down from above, completely shutting down Hinata's spike trajectory.
Hinata had less than half a second to react; in his desperation, he could only attempt a dump, but Washio still read it.
The ball fell beside Hinata and bounced back into Inarizaki's court.
But Hinata knew as Washio jumped that there was an eighty percent chance the ball would be blocked, so he didn't panic; instead, he intentionally disrupted his own center of gravity while falling.
He twisted his body and reached out, intercepting the ball mid-air.
With a light thud, the volleyball flew back into the air, sailing over the net and toward the area near the sideline by Akaashi Keiji's side.
Akaashi didn't react in time at all; by the time he landed and turned to prepare for a save, it was already too late, the ball slammed onto the sideline with a thud.
The referee looked down, checked the line, signaled that it was in. Inarizaki scores.
Cheers drowned out the entire gymnasium at that moment: "Nice kill!!"
Shoyo, Shoyo, great hit! One more!!
After Hinata landed on one foot, he stumbled two steps, but was ultimately pulled by Aran, avoiding the fate of sitting on the ground.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead, his gaze toward Washio filled with relief: "That was close—"
He was just a hair away from being blocked and losing the point..
Aran couldn't help but praise, "Your reaction speed is very fast."
Hinata chuckled, "Just luck, just luck."
He turned his head toward Suna: "Suna-senpai's fake spike was executed beautifully! It's a pity I didn't get the point."
Suna opened his arms toward him: "Shoyo, you played well."
He leaned down and gave Hinata a light hug, while simultaneously turning his head slightly to look at the slightly contorted expression on Miya Atsumu's face.
In a good mood, Suna revealed a barely perceptible smile.
When Hinata looked at the two of them, they had already returned to their usual selves, as if their brief glare had never happened.